Mountain Navigation

When I begin to choose my summer vacation plans, I always end up choosing a hill station. Since the beginning, mountains have always attracted me in a special kind of way which no other place could.
Though living in a metro, I’ve always responded to the call of the mountains and started for a backpacking or a short trip to the hill side. They have a completely different smell ,aura and a beauty which remains etched in your memories. One thing I have wondered is how did they begin to find their navigation along the mountains especially when there’s no GPS or satellite info or maps present.
 The navigation across these hill paths can be quite tricky and even dangerous. On one side you have the open deep valleys which can vertigo just by looking at it. While the other side, you have dangerous wild animals like boar, bear, wild elephants and even tigers lurking in the forests
I recently had the opportunity to watch the movie “The Everest” a couple of day which made me wonder at the sheer strength and resilience of the people who climbed the world’s largest mountain. Special credit goes to Tenzing Norgay and Edmund Hillary who were the first ones to reach the top. Claimed as the most toughest summit to climb and navigate, the entire route can be very deadly. The freezing temperatures, the frequent landslides , glaciers movement , blizzard storm are some of the troubles the climbers can face. More than the external environment conditions, the navigation is incredibly tricky. The climb is quite steep and sometimes the path lead to very narrow gaps where the climbers have to pass through.With just the help of small ropes, carrying a large load of food and water supplies, along with oxygen to breathe, it can be the most treacherous journey one can ever take

I was wondering how much we complain if some of our street roads is broken and we need to drive in them. We tweet about, complain in social media and to the corporation officials. We have been used to a certain standards of navigation and expect everything to be in a world class standard though ultimately we are the ones who destroy the same.
It can be a baseless comparison to start with , but when you wonder at the sheer determination of the people who climb the Everest year after year at any cost can truly be admired. With no support whatsoever, one has to do the several kms trek atop the world’s largest mountain which has more probability of failing than the odds of a success. It is incredible to imagine what some humans can endure to achieve their dreams and goals. To me these climbers are truly a class apart and deserves a special mention in history as the world’s strongest people , both physically as well as mentally


This blog post is inspired by the blogging marathon hosted on IndiBlogger for the launch of the #Fantastico Zica from Tata Motors. You can  apply for a test drive of the hatchback Zica today.

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